Government forces in Indian Kashmir killed three suspected rebels Tuesday during a lengthy gun battle, police said, in the latest flare-up ahead of tense local elections later this year.

Soldiers cordoned off a house in Hanjan village, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar, on Monday evening after receiving a tip-off that militants were inside, a police officer told AFP.

Fighting in Ukraine has driven over half a million people from their homes, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday, warning that the real number could be double that, in a crisis threatening the entire region.

At least 260,000 have been displaced within Ukraine, UNHCR said, adding that Moscow had reported another 260,000 people have sought asylum in Russia.

Ukraine's military on Tuesday reported losing 15 soldiers over the last 24 hours of fighting with eastern insurgents who it claims are backed up by Russian weapons and troops.

Senior defense spokesman Andriy Lysenko said another 49 troops and their accompanying irregular forces had been wounded in various attacks. He did not report losses suffered by the rebels in a campaign that has already claimed more than 2,600 lives.

Organisers of a pro-democracy group who vowed to take over Hong Kong's streets admitted Tuesday they were powerless to change China's plan to vet candidates for the city's next leader, but said their protest would go ahead.

Moscow declared NATO a "threat" to its security Tuesday after the Western military alliance announced plans to reinforce defenses in eastern Europe because of Russia's alleged stoking of war in Ukraine.

Moscow's surprise declaration of a shift in its military doctrine came just ahead of a NATO summit in Wales on Thursday at which beleaguered Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will lobby U.S. President Barack Obama for military help.